Things to do in Manhattan when you're jonesin' for great music. I went up to the Iridium Jazz Club to see John Scofield, only to find out tha it was a sold out show. :-( A little dejected, I hopped back on the train and went down to Houston street to find out who was playing at The Wetlands. "The Steve Kimock Band," the guy at the ticket window told me. Hmmm...Kimock...the name rings a bell. !Ah, he was one of the guitarists from The Other Ones, right?" "Yeah, and a couple of other bands like Zero," the guy at the ticket window repsonded. I formulated a quick rationalization in my mind: "good enough for Phil and Bobby, good enough for me." I forked over the $15 and went in only to find an absolutely PACKED floor in front of the stage. Saturday night at The Sweatglands. The claustorphobic in me decided to find some space back at the bar, under one of the speakers. Kimock and company took the stage and, from the first note, absolutely captivated my soul. No vocals, but hell, when you play guitar like that, you don't NEED to sing!! I recognized nothing, yet hung on every note for 3 hours. My only issue was that the other people hanging at the bar were more interested in talking than listening to this blissful music.

Almost 5 years have passed since that magical show and I can now relive it, thanks to the Archive. I downloaded all three nights and, my "attended" bias wants me to pick this one as my favorite, I think the nod goes to the night before. You can't go wrong with any of them - all three nights are begging to enter your collection.

Great sound quality here (I expect nothing less from Neumann TLM170's) and great performance. Thanks, LAMA!!!!